A major factor and concern of the production and staging of performances for the theater, orchestras, chorus, etc., is the acoustical character that can be obtained in the building where the production is to take place. Conventional music halls and theaters are dedicated to providing the best possible acoustical environment and will have built in reflecting means as part of the building's structure. However, not even a dedicated conventional music hall would have the necessary adaptability with its built in reflecting means to accommodate different performance group sizes. Additionally, many performances are not produced in conventional music halls or theaters.
Often a facility for a performance will not include satisfactory sound reflecting means. This circumstance is true in both the conventional music hall or theater as well as other rooms such as gymnasiums, churches, meeting halls, convention centers, etc. There has developed a need for a low cost portable, collapsible, storable stage panel assembly which may be put up and arranged when and where desired to provide a desirable sound reflecting environment for the performers.
Portable sound shells are known in the industry. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 3,180,446 issued to Wenger Apr. 27, 1965 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,309 issued to Wenger et al., Dec. 28, 1971. These patents disclose portable sound reflecting shells that are collapsible for convenient storage. However, these portable shell structures have proven difficult to use in some situations because of the weight distribution changes that occur during setup and take down of the units. Multiple people are required to work together with each unit to overcome the awkward and sometimes difficult intermediate stages of setup and take down. While these units have found wide acceptance, a more easily handled collapsible stage panel assembly would provide decided advantages.